"A shooting?" one of the Megs asked eagerly.

"I don't think so," the librarian assured her.

"We better go find Meg," Sister said. "She may be trying to cross the park and they have it blocked."

But the small park between the courthouse and the library wasn't blocked. We cut right across to the back of a crowd that had collected around a couple of police cars, a fire truck, and a rescue squad. From inside the library, it had sounded like a dozen sirens wailing at once.

"Someone must have had a heart attack," I said.

A man in front of us turned. "Somebody took a dive," he said

"What?"

"Jumped from the eighth floor."

"Oh, my God!" Mary Alice pressed her hands to her mouth. "Let's go back to the library, Mouse."

I agreed. My stomach has never cooperated at the sight of blood.

We had neared the fountain in the center of the park when we heard footsteps rushing up behind us.

"Wait, wait!" Judge Haskins said. Short of breath and redfaced, he staggered to the curb of the reflecting pool, sat down, and put his head between his knees. "I think I'm dying," he gasped.

I grabbed a Kleenex from my purse, dipped it in the pool, and held it against his forehead. "Just keep your head down."

"That water's filthy," Sister said. "Kids pee in it." I gave her a hard look. "You know. When they go wading."

But the judge wasn't worried about bacteria. He

took the wet Kleenex and held it against his eyes. I reached in my purse for another one.

"Are you having a heart attack or something?" I asked, kneeling beside him. "The paramedics are right over yonder."

"She's dead," he mumbled.

"What did he say?" Sister asked.

"He said, 'She's dead.' "

"It was a woman who jumped?"

"Oh, God." The judge began to sob, loud gasping sobs. He still hadn't raised his head, and I could see the deep pink of scalp through thinning white hair.

And then I knew. "It's Meg," I said. "Meg's dead, isn't she?"

Mary Alice sank down on the curb beside Judge Haskins. "Don't be ridiculous. It couldn't be Meg."

But the judge's head was nodding up and down, affirming what I had said.

Mary Alice grabbed his shoulder and gave it a shake. "Are you telling us that Meg Bryan jumped from the eighth floor of the courthouse?"

His head moved sideways in a no.

I closed my eyes in relief. Mary Alice gave a small whistle, a "whew."

"The ninth."

Sister and I stared at each other. "What?" we said together.

He sobbed again. "She's dead."

Mary Alice reached into the reflecting pool with cupped hands and doused Judge Haskins's bowed head. "Sit up and talk like you've got sense!"

For a moment, I thought she'd killed him. The gasping breathing stopped. Then, with a long sigh, he raised his head. "Do you have another Kleenex?"

I handed him another, and he wiped his face. "Thanks."